Oscars 2014: Long, few surprises, but good outcomes
Yes, the ceremony was painfully long - per usual. Yes, there were too many unnecessary montages. And yes, there weren't any real surprises among the winners.
But ya know what? I'm giving a thumbs up to the Oscars this year. Because, for once, I was satisfied with all the outcomes and absolutely delighted with some of them: "12 Years a Slave" winning the big prize; Lupita Nyong'o winning supporting actress; "Her" winning original screenplay; "The Great Beauty" winning foreign film. Even in the animated short category, my favorite ("Monsieur Hublot") beat out the predicted favorite (Disney's "Get a Horse").
In fact, the only beefs I had with any of the awards were incredibly mild ones: (1) "Moon Song" is an infinitely superior song to "Let It Go" (but the songwriters were so charming delivering their rhymed acceptance speech, I couldn't begrudge them their win); (2) even though I knew "20 Feet From Stardom" would win best documentary, I can't imagine it was a better or more powerful film than "The Square" (but then I didn't see "20 Feet," so I can't really make that judgment).
Ellen had an engaging presence and was funnier than I remember her being the first time she hosted the Oscars. The pizza bit went on a little too long, but the Twitter-breaking selfie bit was inspired. And in general, she just seemed more relaxed this time, perhaps because it wasn't her first rodeo.
Other random thoughts, a/k/a my personal Oscar ceremony awards:
Best Dressed: Lupita Nyong'o, looking like a perfect Cinderella, complete with headband and sweeping ice-blue gown. On anyone else the effect could have been treacly, but she made it work - maybe because she really did seem like a heroine in a fairy tale.
Worst Dressed: Pharrell Williams. I kinda dig the cheekiness of bringing back The Hat from the Grammys (in black this time!), but those shorts...no.
Most Moving Acceptance Speech: Lupita Nyong'o again. Classy, gracious, and heartfelt.
Most Awesome Acceptance Speech: Matthew McConaughey. All right, all right, all right...Consider the glorious contrast to his "Dallas Buyers Club" co-star and fellow winner, Jared Leto, who paid proper tribute to victims of AIDS and more generally, discrimination. Only McConaughey, on the other hand, would talk about his dad dancing in his underwear with a pot of gumbo (his idea of heaven, I guess) and about his own hero being...himself in 10 years. Classy and coherent it was not. But unadulterated McConaugheyness it was, which is what made it awesome.
Most Awesome Moment Not in a Speech: Lupita Nyong'o, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams shimmying with Pharrell. GIFS, please! I know they're out there.
Most Face-palmy Moment: John Travolta butchering Idina Menzel's name. Seriously, dude, you have just a couple minutes on stage and only ONE thing you need to get right - and you can't even do that?
Most Random Pairing of Presenters (in a night chock-full of them): Gonna have to give this one to McConaughey and Kim Novak.
Most Gorgeous Pairing of Presenters: Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, god and goddess. You know half the audience was thinking what beautiful babies they would make. Too bad they're both with other people.
Most Superfluous Musical Performance: Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" after the conclusion of the Dead People Montage.
Most Annoying Returning Oscar Trend: Montages of random film clips that have NOTHING TO DO with the nominated films, cobbled together under a theme general enough to include nearly any and every movie the Academy feels like including ("heroes" this year, forget what it was last year but it was something equally lame).
Most Puzzling New Oscar Trend: The presenting of the best picture nominees in groups rather than individually. Could not figure out the reasoning behind why they put together the nominees as they did. Can anyone enlighten me?
Again, despite these nitpicks, this year was an Oscars to remember for all the right reasons (12 YEARS A SLAVE!), which is all that matters in the end. Occasionally, Hollywood does get it right. Not often enough - but we'll take it when we can get it.
But ya know what? I'm giving a thumbs up to the Oscars this year. Because, for once, I was satisfied with all the outcomes and absolutely delighted with some of them: "12 Years a Slave" winning the big prize; Lupita Nyong'o winning supporting actress; "Her" winning original screenplay; "The Great Beauty" winning foreign film. Even in the animated short category, my favorite ("Monsieur Hublot") beat out the predicted favorite (Disney's "Get a Horse").
In fact, the only beefs I had with any of the awards were incredibly mild ones: (1) "Moon Song" is an infinitely superior song to "Let It Go" (but the songwriters were so charming delivering their rhymed acceptance speech, I couldn't begrudge them their win); (2) even though I knew "20 Feet From Stardom" would win best documentary, I can't imagine it was a better or more powerful film than "The Square" (but then I didn't see "20 Feet," so I can't really make that judgment).
Ellen had an engaging presence and was funnier than I remember her being the first time she hosted the Oscars. The pizza bit went on a little too long, but the Twitter-breaking selfie bit was inspired. And in general, she just seemed more relaxed this time, perhaps because it wasn't her first rodeo.
Other random thoughts, a/k/a my personal Oscar ceremony awards:
Best Dressed: Lupita Nyong'o, looking like a perfect Cinderella, complete with headband and sweeping ice-blue gown. On anyone else the effect could have been treacly, but she made it work - maybe because she really did seem like a heroine in a fairy tale.
Worst Dressed: Pharrell Williams. I kinda dig the cheekiness of bringing back The Hat from the Grammys (in black this time!), but those shorts...no.
Most Moving Acceptance Speech: Lupita Nyong'o again. Classy, gracious, and heartfelt.
Most Awesome Acceptance Speech: Matthew McConaughey. All right, all right, all right...Consider the glorious contrast to his "Dallas Buyers Club" co-star and fellow winner, Jared Leto, who paid proper tribute to victims of AIDS and more generally, discrimination. Only McConaughey, on the other hand, would talk about his dad dancing in his underwear with a pot of gumbo (his idea of heaven, I guess) and about his own hero being...himself in 10 years. Classy and coherent it was not. But unadulterated McConaugheyness it was, which is what made it awesome.
Most Awesome Moment Not in a Speech: Lupita Nyong'o, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams shimmying with Pharrell. GIFS, please! I know they're out there.
Most Face-palmy Moment: John Travolta butchering Idina Menzel's name. Seriously, dude, you have just a couple minutes on stage and only ONE thing you need to get right - and you can't even do that?
Most Random Pairing of Presenters (in a night chock-full of them): Gonna have to give this one to McConaughey and Kim Novak.
Most Gorgeous Pairing of Presenters: Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron, god and goddess. You know half the audience was thinking what beautiful babies they would make. Too bad they're both with other people.
Most Superfluous Musical Performance: Bette Midler singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" after the conclusion of the Dead People Montage.
Most Annoying Returning Oscar Trend: Montages of random film clips that have NOTHING TO DO with the nominated films, cobbled together under a theme general enough to include nearly any and every movie the Academy feels like including ("heroes" this year, forget what it was last year but it was something equally lame).
Most Puzzling New Oscar Trend: The presenting of the best picture nominees in groups rather than individually. Could not figure out the reasoning behind why they put together the nominees as they did. Can anyone enlighten me?
Again, despite these nitpicks, this year was an Oscars to remember for all the right reasons (12 YEARS A SLAVE!), which is all that matters in the end. Occasionally, Hollywood does get it right. Not often enough - but we'll take it when we can get it.
posted by lylee2 at 11:33 PM
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